The market is full of vendors selling products each designed to solve institutional problems. But how does one choose the right tool for their institution and situation? Topics addressed in this chapter include: how to gauge institutional needs, how to evaluate products, and understand the available institutional resources (current and future).…

Effective management and sound education require the development of sophisticated departmental budget models and processes. Efficient methods of resource allocation compatible with institutional organization, goals, and needs have not yet been put into effect. (Editor/LBH)

Various budgeting patterns and strategies are currently in use, each with its own particular strengths and weaknesses. Neither cost-benefit analysis nor cost-effectiveness analysis offers any better solution to the allocation problem than do the unsupported contentions of departments or the historical unit costs. An operable model that performs…

Interinstitutional researchers face a variety of complex issues that need to be understood and dealt with to ensure the benefits of their involvement. Some issues are reviewed and future concerns are addressed. (Author/LBH)

A summary of themes and observations in the development of management and planning techniques for colleges and universities is presented. Suggestions are included on how institutional researchers may assess changes in the management systems of their own institutions. (MSE)

Reasons for more intensive scrutiny of departmental operations and budgets are reviewed, along with the factors that have prevented such study. The means and procedures for such review are listed with comments and cautions about putting these procedures into operation. (LBH)

Broad understanding of an institution is fundamental to strategic planning, and information and communication are integral parts of this understanding. An institutional fact book used at Georgia State University is discussed both as a basic information system and as a practical communication vehicle. (MLW)

Instead of collegiate priorities determining resource allocation, the resource allocation process can often shape the priorities. Current approaches are reviewed with focus on (1) how different approaches to setting priorities accommodate lack of consensus on campus; (2) incentives incorporated into resource allocation approaches; and (3)…

When real resources decline, demands change, or programs lose vitality, then a logical move is to reallocate resources to facilitate academic planning. Reallocation schemes and experiences at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Oklahoma State University are described and compared. (Author/MLW)

Understanding the link between futures research and strategic planning is crucial to effective long-range planning and administration. Current trends and the latest developments in the methodology of futures research are discussed. (MLW)

Management information needs vary as a function of departmental complexity, goals, and services. A model is proposed to enable institutional researchers to serve better the distinctive information needs of academic departments and their chairmen. (LBH)

Libraries and computing facilities are important assets for achieving high-quality instruction and research, but most evaluations of them dwell on input rather than output. Consideration of a variety of issues, particularly when examining computer use, can help determine when the resources are not enough or are oversufficient. (MSE)

The office of institutional research can play a key role in creating a college's marketing plan. Designing survey instruments and evaluations to support new program development, employer-based education, and recruiting concepts are areas where institutional research can make important contributions (Author/MLW)

Selecting computer tools requires analyzing information requirements and audiences, assessing existing institutional research and computing capacities, creating or improving a planning database, using computer experts, determining software needs, obtaining sufficient resources for independent operations, acquiring quality, and insisting on…

A rapidly emerging, traditionally Black university--North Carolina Central--examined its goals in a study that shows how the results were used by the institution to improve itself. Reasons for the study, procedures used, and the results are discussed. (Author/LBH)